Have a one month old GL2 and on my second tape I saw "Dirty Heads" message. I used Canon cleaning tape following the instructions and no more "Dirty Heads" messages. However I noticed that 2 out of 3 recordings will record vertical pixellated noise on the right side of the screen about half inch wide. Rest of the screen is black. I use only Canon 80min tapes. I also noticed that when I fast forward couple of minutes and then start recording everything looks good. This mostly happen when I insert a new tape and start recording.

Has enyone experienced similar problems? Is it the Canon 80min tapes? I ordered some Canon 60 min tapes to see if that makes any diferrence but tapes are on backorder. Can this be problem with the camera? I wanted to post this first before I call Canon.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

http://www.dvfreak.com/tape.htm has a lot of good tape links.

I suggest getting 1 brand/type of good tape and sticking with it.

Have you tried using a head cleaning cassette yet? That might clear it up. When you run it, make sure it's for 5 or 6 seconds only.

Thank you for replying.
As I noted in my original post I did use Canon cleaning tape for 5 seconds and use ONLY one type of tapes Canon DVM-E80. However I am still experiencing the same problem randomly.
Any other ideas?

Thank you...

IMHO you've done that which is required as a new owner. I would take the cammie back to the shop and :

1 - Repair

2 - OR request for a new Canon

3 - OR full money back refund

The last 2 options may only happen after the shop has exhaustively tried to "repair" the "fault". However it may depend on your local Laws. In the UK we have very strong consumer rights. IMHO the machine is not fit for the purpose it was intended. But you DO need to get the issue "logged" with your supplier as soon as possible. You've done everything that a new owner could have been expected to have done.

Grazie

I had the same thing happen to me.(dirty heads) I used a head cleaner and the problem was solved. Seems to be a Canon thing, others have had the same problem. Makes me mad when I had an old cheap Sony and never cleaned a head in four years. Now with Canon after 2 tapes heads need to be cleaned. But I love the Canon so far.

Steve, he used the head cleaner .. it hasn't improved . .he should take it back . . IMHO

Grazie

That is one reason to buy with a credit card. Visa card will dbl. the warranty. I have had it work for me. Take it back Tomas! don't wait too long.

Thank you all for replying.
Yesterday I finally got my Canon DVM-E60 tapes and did lot of recording and testing. Put new tapes in, record for few minutes, insert another new tape and so on.
I did NOT experience the same problems as I described in my original post. Not a single time during my testing. (I wasted 7 new tapes but I wanted to make sure)

What do you guys think? Could I have bad batch of tapes that I bought originally? Did that happen to anyone before?
I really appreciate your feedback on this as I have important project next week and I want to know if I should send my brand new GL2 for repair or I just had a bad luck with tapes.

Thank you...

Hard call. I'm glad I aint in your shoes . . .

Tell me, what's the difference between the DVM80 and DVM60 tapes? I'm guessing the 60 is hour long tapes and the the 80? Never heard of an 80 . . .

Grazie

Thomas,
As Grazie said, "Hard to call".

I can say that the first foot or so of a tape is the place where you can expect recording glitches. As a matter of practice, I never start recording program material from the beginning of a new tape. I generally record a minute of bars and tone when I insert a new tape, moving past any potential anomalies remaining from the manufacturing process. This is also a good, practical practice for making your post captures easier.

Glad to hear that the problem has cleared, at least for now. Thanks for reporting back.

p.s. For your reference, Canon does not manufacture tapes. Canon-branded tapes are, I believe, made by Panasonic.

Graham,
That is correct. DV-M80 and 60 is 80 and 60 min.
Here is the link to Canon: http://www.canondv.com/gl2/a_videocasettes.html